Automatic door latch



C. PETEWS AUTOMATIC DOOR LATCH FiledJune l5, 1921 'l i en@ liti i lithdll

teilt llltllay ih i naait i .application tiled tune i3,

To aZZwLo/m it may concern.'

vention, such will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains tornake and `use the sanne.

rlhis invention relates to a locking@n device., and particularly to sucha device adapted to be applied to a door. lllhile the invention iscapable oit many uses and applications, it is most especially intendedtor use on barn or stable doors, and such buildings where animals arekept. llt is well known that cows and other animals etten open locks ondoors by rubbing against the door and engaping; the leek with theirhorns.

lt is an object oil this invention theretore to provide a lock ol'simple construction so arranged that it is practically impossible tor ananimal to open the saine by rubbingv against the door or in a way to soengage the lock with her horn that the same will be opened. i

lt is a turther object of the invention to provide such a lock which canbe readily locked and unlocked troni either the outside or inside ot thedoor.

llt is still another object ot the invention to provide the portion. etthe lock on the outside ot the door with a latch rneans adapted toengage a keeper to hold the door in open position.

Yllhese and other objects and advantages ot the invention will be morefully set torth in the following description which is made in connectionwith the accompanying draw* inps, in which-- 4ig. l is a view in sideelevation et the lock and a portion ot the door and door amb to which itis applied, certain portions lacing shown in section; i

Fig. E2, is a section taken substantially on the line S21-2 ot Fig. l;and

Fig. 3 is a view showing the latch holding` the door in open position.

lteterring' to the drawings, a portion ot the door a is shown which isadapted to close against the door janib Z5. rlhe door a is termed withan opening l eirtendinp) therethrough and a keeper member 2 is appliedto the inside ot the door which has a tl lt. Eterial lilo. dTfAtlQ.

shaped portion 2 projecting inwardly in alinernent with the opening land fastened to each side ot the same. rlhe keeper 2 also h a portionextending across the front ot *the door, as shown `in Fig. 2, and isfurther bent to have a portion 2" extending across the outside ot thedoor, which portion is provided with an aperture 2c in alinement withthe aperture 'l. 'ldhe keeper is secured by the headed and nntted bolts3 passing through the door and engaging the portion ot the keeper ateither side thereof. A handle and housing member l of suitable shape totorni a convenient hand hold is secured to the outside ot the door bythe lower bolt 3 and another headed and nutted bolt t5 which pissesthrough the saine in its upper end.

rlfhe member t has a tapped hole in its lower curved portion and apointed member t5 has a threaded shank screwed kinto said hole andprojecting; inwardly ot said handle to torni the pivot andnipportingmember tor a bell crank lever 7 which is provided with arecess at the outer side of its langle portion, which recess is adaptedto receive the pointed portionot member 6. lt will be noted that themember G has a widened collar or shoulder portion adjacent the `ineinberLl upon which the body portion oit the lever T rests rllheineinber i hasone arno ezrtendinq'-` upwardly within the housing Il, which arm is bentat a slight angle toward the door at its upper end9 and said member alsohas an arm extending` through the aperlside oit an opening" fl "termedin the top ot member d, in which openingl the top edge ot" the verticalarm moves.

Secured to the amb ZJ is a housing1 or casn ing1 S comprising); a platebent into lil-shape to iforin parallel side walls. ,llivets or screws 9extend between the walls ot member 8 and the upper one oit which isshown as forming the pivot member tor a latch dog; l0 which projectstroni easing' and is of hook torination and adapted to engage over thekeeper 2. 'llhe trent edge et the den` l0 is formed with an inclinedsurface 102L forming a cam surface with which the edge oft the keeper 2is adapted to engage when the door is moved inwardly. Rivets or screws9** also extend between the sides ot the housing 8 and the upper ofthese is shown as forming a stop for the member 10. The member l0 isalso provided with a projecting lip 10,b forming a handle therefor. Itwill be. noted that the casing 8 and the latch member lO aresymmetrically formed7 and by such formation are rendered capable ofbeing reversed and inverted so that the casing and latch dog may be usedwith either a right hand or left hand arrangement of the door. When themembers are so inverted, the 111cm-, bers 9 and 9a shown as the lowermembers in Fig. l, will be used as the pivot and stop, respectively, forthe member 10.

The member 4t is shown as having an upwardly projecting lip 4b adjacentthe opening 4, which lip is adapted to engage with a pivoted latch onthe side of the building or member adjacent to which the door moves inits open position. Such a latch is shown in Fig. `3 as the member llprovided with the opening lla, the same being pivoted for slightswinging motion to Athe plate l2 which Will be suitably secured to theside of the building or other member 13. As the door (L -moves towardthe member c the latch member 4b will engage against the upwardly curvedlatch 11 and raise the same so that the member 4b passes into theopening 11a. The latch 11 will then drop by gravity and, if the doorattempts to swing backwardly, it Will be held by engagement of the latch4b with the latch 11.

The operation ot Ithe device will, doubtless, be obvious from the abovedescription.

As the door swings toward the jainb, the upper edge of the keeper 2 willengage the surface 10@L and raise the latch l() and as the door moves toclosed position. the said latch will ydrop into the keeper and hold thesame in closed position. Such position of the keeper is shown by dottedlines in Fig. l. The normal position of the lever 7 is also shown indotted lines in Fig. l. When it is 'desired 'to open the door from theoutside, the handle will be placed inthe member 4 and the lever 7 movedtoward the outer portion of said member. The lever will then be movedinto the position shown in full lines infFig. l and the horizontal armsof the lever will engage latch l0 and raise the same from the keeper.

If it is desired to lock or unlock the door from the inside, the samecan be done b manipulating the latch 10 by the handle 10b. By thearrangement of the keeper and latch it is `obvious that it would bepractically im possible for a con7 or other animal-to engage the latchwith her horn` or otherwise, 4and open the latch ordoor. The pivotconstruction comprising the member 6 and the recess of lever 7 avoidsany danger of the lock being frozen in cold Weather, so that the lever 7could not be moved. The manner in which the door will be held. in openposition has already been explained.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided asimple 'torni of door latch, one which can be easily made and installedand which will have great utility for the purpose intended. The latchwill preferably be made ot suitable material` which, it desired, may beot non-corrosive character. The latch can also be made very strong anddurable and is capable of application to either single, double, orsliding doors.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe torni. details and arrangement of the device without departing fromthe scope ot applicants invention` which. generally stated, consists inthe matter shown and described and set fort-h in the following claims.

lllliat is claimed is:

l. A latch device comprising a keeper adapted to be secured to theinside oi" a door, a latch pivoted to swing about a horizont-al axisparallel to the door and adapted to be secured to the door jamb, and soarranged that it will be` raised by the keeper and engage with thesame,` a housing handle member secured to the outside of the door.r alever mounted therein to swing on a horizontal axis parallel to the doorhaving one arm adapted to extend through the door and engage the saidlatch to litt the same, and having another arm extending vertically insaid handle portion normally spaced from the front thereof.

Q. A. lock tor a door having in combination a keeper secured to theinside of said. door, a latch dog pivoted to the door jamb on ahorizontal axis parallel to the door and adapted to engage in saidkeeper. having a cam surface by which it is raised by move ment ot' saidkeeper, a pivoted means on the outside of the door mounted to swingabout a horizontal axis parallel to the door and extending therethroughadapted to engage with said dog to raise the same out of engagement withsaid keeper, and a handle member on said dog by which it can be operatedfrom the inside ot said door.

3. The structure set forth in claim l, said housing` vhandle member haring an opening in its top portion in which -the upper end ot said levermoves, and an upwardly curved projection adjacent said opening adaptedto engage a fixed keeper to hold the door in open position.

4.-. An automaticlatch comprising a keeper adapted to be secured on theinside of the door, pivoted means adapted to be secured to the door jambYFor engaging said keeper` a housing handle adapted to be secured to theoutside of the door, and a lever loosely and removably pivoted in andenclosed by

